vietnam Archives - The Rotary Wing Show Podcast

Wing Commander(Ret.) Jack Lynch flew Iroquois Gunships with 9 SQN RAAF in Vietnam

Jack Lynch was a ‘Bushranger’ pilot in Vietnam for the Royal Australian Air Force. These were Iroquois UH-1H helicopters fitted out as aerial gunships which provided close air support to Australian troops.

Listen to Part 1 of the interview here

A pair of low flying Sabre jets over Jack Lynch’s childhood property was the seed for a 50+ year career in and around aviation.

After graduating from RAAF pilots course and being posted to helicopters, Jack found himself in Vietnam as one of the early pilots in the Australian version of an armed UH-1H gunship.

The configuration consisted of 2 x twin M-60 machine guns for the door gunners, 14 M158 rockets and 2 XM-21 fixed forward firing mini guns capable of 4000 rounds a minute. Armoured seats were scrounged and procured to provide some level of protection for the pilots.

Aiming of the rockets and mini-guns was conducted through an aiming reticle that could be swiveled down in front of either pilot. It was then up to the pilot to fly the helicopter to place the aiming point on the target. ‘Danger Close’ is the term used when aircraft are firing close to the line of friendly troops. Experienced crews would be able to lay down fire to within 25 metres and sometimes closer to ground troops in contact requiring incredibly precise flying skills.

The concept of operations was for 2 helicopters to conduct a racetrack pattern such that one helicopter was always on its target run. As the first aircraft broke away the door gunners would open up to suppress the target and at the same time the second aircraft would start its run. The first aircraft would then race at speed back to the start of the pattern ready to start its run as soon as the second aircraft commenced it’s break.

9 SQN RAAF conducted 237,424 missions with 16 Hueys (4 were converted to the Bushranger configuration).

Vietnam. An RAAF crewman fires his M60 at enemy positions whilst expended bullet casings pour from the minigun of RAAF Iroquois helicopter gunship (Bushranger) A2-773 as it sweeps into action.

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Links from this week’s episode:
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The 9 SQN Iroquois were eventually transferred to the Australian Army which maintained the Bushranger capability almost unchanged right up until 2004.

Painted blades to help the overhead command and control aircraft to guide treetop helicopters on to landing areas.

Do you have a question about the Bushrangers or something mentioned in the episode that you want to ask? Be part of the conversation by leaving a comment below.

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This photo of David Earley was taken during his Bell 47 time and features on the cover of his book 'Beneath Blades' — This photo of David Earley was taken during his Bell 47 time and features on the cover of his book ‘Beneath Blades’

From the outback of northern Australia, to the jungles of Vietnam and the mountains of Papua New Guinea and Nepal – plus much of the US, time in the Philippines, Columbia and Russia, David Earley is one well travelled helicopter pilot.

Along the way he has held almost every position from line pilot to a helicopter company CEO overseeing $47 million in annual revenue on some of the largest Australian government helicopter contracts. He is also a licensed A&P mechanic.

David started out flying the Bell 47 in the Australian Army during which time he spent 12 months at war in Vietnam as a scout pilot. Post-war David held a number of positions in the Army before moving to JAARS where he spent 15 years in PNG and the US.

His duties here not only included providing support to remote teams in the PNG highlands but the standing up of a helicopter training school and check and training.

From here David held a number of roles leading to the position of CEO of Reef Helicopters which became Australian Helicopters. All of which is covered in his book ‘Beneath Blades – Flying at the ends of the earth. A pilot’s journal‘.

Having read the book I can tell you that it’s a great collection of aviation tales and helicopter adventures. Aswell as being an entertaining read there is also a lot in it for the professional aviator in terms of safety culture, operational pressures and aviation management stressors.

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In this week’s episode:

01:40 Hosting Rotary Club for dinner in the Aeropower hanger
03:15 David Earley background
05:10 Nav training and mental arithmetic drilling
06:30 Book – ‘Beneath Blades’ http://dhearley.com/
08:40 Tim Fisher, Deputy Prime Minister wrote the Forward
10:00 Night touchdown autorotations at RAAF Amberley
12:55 Survey work in Northern Territory + wife Nancy
15:50 Employee crash due to overloaded helicopter and spouse breakup
18:10 Companies addressing touring/home issues / critical manager skillset
21:30 Nancy’s flying experience
23:56 Vietnam and scout role in the Bell 47 Sioux
25:05 First Australian pilot to fly the Kiowa
25:30 Kangaroo vinyls stuck on US helicopters and helmets
30:15 Night flying under Porter flares
28:20 Grenade + drop toilet
33:13 JAARS – in-house aviation department for Wycliffe Bible translation service
34:30 Check and training for remote single pilot ops
37:45 Tackling a village elder to stop approaching tail rotor
39:25 Cultural training and differences
47:38 Aviation culture, within companies, people, impacts
51:53 Coming in to be unpopular in some roles to effect change
52:30 Conforming to the norm – can be good or bad
54:33 Importance of initial training as a foundation
59:10 Personal integrity
1:02:30 Engine overhauls and seeing pilot behaviour impact
1:05:20 What pilots need to know about company manager/executive priorities/limitations
1:08:35 Private equity ownership of helicopter companies
1:10:28 Book ordering details
1:11:10 Episode Sponsors trainmorepilots.com

Links from this week’s episode:
Beneath Blades book website
Beneath Blades Facebook page
World Helicopter Day

An idea of the terrain in PNG
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Note the red kangaroo sticker on the US cobra placed there during David’s rotation with them in Vietnam.

Some of the pilots

Posted by Beneath Blades: Flying at the Ends of the Earth on Thursday, October 31, 2013

Be part of the conversation and get involved in the comments section below. What questions do you have about David’s interview?

Tag: vietnam

RWS 54 – Huey Gunships with Jack Lynch Part 2

RWS 28 – Vietnam, Culture and Helicopter Company Management with David Earley